Chairman Wheeler: Dingo Helped Drive Title II Interest

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler gave HBO's John Oliver credit for helping drive consumer interest and comment on new network neutrality rules. Chairman Wheeler said Oliver's impact on him was more than educating him on what a dingo was. Oliver likened putting former cable and telecommunication lobbyist Wheeler in charge of regulating those industries and setting Internet openness policy to hiring a dingo for a babysitter. Chairman Wheeler said Oliver's satirical jab got people interested in an issue with "real, live consumer impact," taking the ultimate in arcane—Title II reclassification of the Internet—and making it into something that millions of people weighed in on, adding that he wished other arcane issues got more attention, including dealing with set-top boxes and broadband subsidy (Lifeline) reform.

On a more serious note, Chairman Wheeler defended the process that produced the new net neutrality rules. He said complaints about that process, which included not providing enough notice of its change to Title II—complaints that appeared to get some purchase in oral arguments on challenges to those rules—were the last refuge of those who don't like a decision. He said he was quite comfortable that the decision was fact-based and would be upheld. Chairman Wheeler did not shy away from the broadband privacy authority that Title II reclassification gave the FCC, though he said that does not extend to edge providers, which remains the province of the Federal Trade Commission. And asked whether asserting new authority over privacy was not in some way a broadband power grab, as it was viewed by some, Chairman Wheeler said no. He pointed out that the FCC did have 80 years experience protecting personal information collected by traditional cable providers from their consumers.